Essay on “Heleibambe” Festival
Heleibambe is celebrated in Assam by each Zemi village according to the convenience of the village prior to the starting of ‘Jhum’ cultivation
It is held in mid-April when the monsoon is likely to set on the first day. Tingkupeu, the village priest, sacrifices a buffalo for the appeasement of ‘Suphai’, the Crop God so they could have a bumper crop. The meat of the sacrificed animal is then distributed among all.
After the feast, a boy of ‘Morungs’, the member of the ‘Hengsenki’ and ‘Leuseuki’, starts dancing and singing, which continues throughout the night in the presence of the villagers. On the second day, young boys and girls sing and dance in the village streets stopping for some time in front of each household. Prior to the village street singing and dancing, the boys and girls of the Morungs collect wild plants and leaves from the nearby forest and distribute them to all households in the villages.
